


Betrayal and Consequences

by Fortylinestare



Category: Big Wolf on Campus
Genre: Angst, Animal Death, Blackmail, Giant Robots, Kidnapping, M/M, Running Away, Sacrifice, Welcome To The Dark Side We Have Cake, Werewolf Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2017-12-31 14:16:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fortylinestare/pseuds/Fortylinestare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merton would do anything to save Tommy, but what he thinks will protect him may destroy them both forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Big Wolf On Campus or any characters associated with it. If I did, I would have released it on Netflix already.  
> This story contains animal cruelty and no, I'm not just talking about werewolf heartbreak.

Tommy felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Hard. 

Actually, that wasn’t quite right. He’d been punched in the gut on more than one occasion, and it had never felt anywhere near as bad as this. 

“What do you mean, you’re leaving Pleasantville?” 

The goth shuffled, looking at his feet. “Exactly that. I’m moving in with my grandparents. I just have to pack the last few boxes and then I’m going on Sunday.” 

His head was spinning and he felt like he was trying to hear through static. One word managed to filter through his panicking mind. “Sunday? How long have you known about this?” 

“A while.” The words were soft, ashamed almost. 

The shock was beginning to break, letting in a flood of emotions. Grief. Hurt. Anger. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” 

“I’m telling you now.” 

For a long moment there was silence as Tommy stared at his friend in disbelief and Merton looked fixedly at the ground. As there was nothing particularly interesting about the worn beige linoleum that covered the high school corridor, Tommy knew he was avoiding his gaze. 

He gathered his courage and asked. “Where are you going, exactly?” 

He braced himself for the answer. From the look on Merton’s face, he knew it wouldn’t be good. 

“Springwood.” 

Tommy sighed in relief and a broad smile split his face. “Why didn’t you say so, buddy? That’s, like, the next town over. We can still hang out after school and on weekends. You know, you could probably even stay at Pleasantville High. It’s not that far.” 

Merton said nothing. Refused to look up at his beaming friend. 

“You had me worried there for a minute, man. From the look on your face I thought you were moving to, like, Germany or something.” 

He smiled again, inviting Merton to join in the joke. When he didn’t, it faltered. “Merton?” 

A frown. A deep sigh. “Tommy, I’m not staying at Pleasantville High.” 

“You’re not?” 

He shook his head, but didn’t say anything. 

“Hey, that’s ok. We can still hang out the rest of the time.” He smiled bravely, trying to keep up his usual optimism. 

Merton shook his head again, still refusing to look up. “I’ll be pretty busy, what with moving and all. I don’t think I’ll be able to get over to Pleasantville for a while.” 

Tommy felt pangs of fear flare up inside his chest, but he smothered them and determinedly plastered on another smile. 

“Well, I can always come to you. I mean, if I wolf out and run I can make it in, like, twenty minutes. Plus, the lair’s gonna move to Springwood and we both know hanging out at my place sucks.” He laughed, but it was too empty, too frightened. 

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Tommy.” The voice was small, resigned. 

The fear spiked inside him and the wolf howled at him to run, run away now. Its survival instinct was strong, but Tommy had to stay and hear this. 

“Why not?” 

“I don’t think this is working any more. You and me. Being… friends, a team, whatever we are. And now that I’m leaving, I think we should just… I don’t know. Let it go?” 

“Let it go?” The words were hollow, disbelieving. 

“Yeah.” 

“But… Why?” 

“It’s too much for me. Monster of the week, mortal danger, all of it. I can’t do it any more.” 

He saw a ray of hope and grabbed for it. “Hey, that’s ok. You don’t have to. We can just be friends, without all of that stuff. I’ll fight the monsters back in Pleasantville and you can just… I don’t know, forget about it. Pretend it’s not happening. Or, like, hold monster movie marathons afterwards, or whatever. It doesn’t matter. All I mean is, you don’t have to leave. Well, you do have to leave, but not *leave* leave, you know?” 

Merton let him ramble, knowing how much his friend had to be hurting. When he finally paused for breath, Merton spoke. He had rehearsed the words so many times, it was almost like reciting lines. Almost like it wasn’t even him saying it, but some other character. Someone crueler, someone stronger. Someone with a lot less to lose. 

“I’m sorry Tommy, but this is the way it has to be. Look, it was great at first. You were the only friend I’d ever had, so everything was new and wonderful and I felt like I belonged. But things have changed, and I just don’t feel that way any more. I’m tired of being your sidekick. I’m not the same needy nerd I was when we met. Back then, it was fine that you only wanted to use me for research, because I was just happy that anyone wanted me around at all. But I need something different now. I need respect and I need someone who’ll treat me as an equal. So when I go, that’ll be it. No more monsters or Factory or lair. No more us.” 

The wolf howled inside him again, and for a moment Tommy thought he wouldn’t be able to contain him. He started to shake, his eyes flashed yellow and as he looked at his hands, they began to change. 

As usual, Merton saw and stepped up, placing a soothing hand on Tommy’s arm. 

“As the sun rises,   
The full moon begins to set.   
Soon it will be new.” 

Tommy drew a deep, shaking breath and reigned in the raging wolf. Usually Merton’s haikus made him feel calm and blissfully at peace. This was different. The wolf had heard the words and was grieving, curled in on itself, whining softly. 

He looked at the pale hand on his arm then turned his gaze to the face of his friend. His best friend. Could this really be happening? How had he not noticed, not seen that Merton’s feelings were changing? Could he have been so lost in his own emotions that he hadn’t realised he was losing the one thing he wanted most?

Finally Merton looked up, and Tommy searched his eyes for something – anything – some small sign of hope. Instead, he saw resignation and immutability. Something inside him broke. 

“Please, Merton. Don’t do this. I need you.” 

Merton tried to smile encouragingly, but it was a pathetic attempt. “You’ll be fine, Tommy. You’re still the most popular guy in school, you know. You’ll replace me in no time.” 

Tommy flinched at the word. “Replace you? No-one could ever replace you, Merton. Don’t you get that? Can’t you see how much you mean to me?” 

“I know, you need me to surf the net, hit the books, help defeat the big bads. But you can learn to do that stuff yourself.” 

“No!” The wolf snarled in frustration. “Merton, you don’t understand – I’m trying to tell you something here. I -” 

“It doesn’t matter, Tommy. It’s too late. Nothing you say can stop this from happening. In a few days I’ll be gone, and you’ll have to find a way to move on. You’ve got Lori, she’ll help. You’ll be fine.” 

He blinked hard, glaring at the top of the lockers and trying to bite back the hurt. “Can I at least come by on Sunday to say goodbye?” 

“This is goodbye. Can’t it be enough?” 

It came out as a whimper. “No.” 

“Well, it has to be. Goodbye, Tommy. Thank you for… everything.” The smaller boy turned, face unreadable, and headed down the hall toward the exit. Tommy watched as he walked away, every locker he passed counting down the moments to separation. 

He wanted to be cool, wanted to keep his pride and not let Merton know how much this hurt, how it felt like his heart had been grabbed and squeezed in a fist and his insides beaten like eggs by a fork. He wanted to get home before the wolf won out, before the tears began to fall. 

But they were already falling and the wolf in him was howling. Then suddenly he was howling too, and he was glad the school was empty because anyone who heard him would have easily recognised the sound. 

It was the sound of an animal in pain. It was the sound of a wolf crying out for pack. 

The other boy stopped and turned, jaw clenched and eyes swimming. 

The words were so soft, he almost didn’t hear them through his sobs. 

“I’m sorry, Tommy.” 

Then he was gone, and the wolf was howling once more.   
 


	2. Justifications

Six months passed. It was the longest six months of Merton’s life. 

It wasn’t like his grandparents hadn’t been great. Actually, they were way cooler than his parents and Becky had ever been. They didn’t seem to have any problem with the way he dressed or the fact that he preferred the Gothic Fantasy Guild to good old-fashioned football. Not that he had a Guild any more. He’d had to leave that behind in Pleasantville, along with everything else. 

His grandparents had given him the space he needed and the affection he craved. They’d even let him check out their huge library and recommended books on history, mythology and Hollywood. For the first time, Merton felt like he could actually believe he was related to his family. 

But his grandparents and their books were all he had in Springwood. That and the monsters who occasionally showed up to terrorise the town. He’d nearly been killed a couple of times trying to stop them, but in the end he’d survived and managed to put a stop to two vampires, a poltergeist and a fear demon. That one had nearly been the death of him. After all, fear was his modus operandi, his daily companion. Eventually he’d managed to banish the demon with a particularly well-timed exorcism, but it had been a close one. He’d learned that they were all close ones, though, when you were fighting alone. 

At first he’d made a few cursory attempts to make friends at Springwood High and people had actually been a lot nicer than they were at Pleasantville. Maybe that was because he didn’t have any history there, any reputation. He could start from scratch, be anyone he wanted. He found he only wanted to be alone. 

Wracked with guilt and plagued by mental images of Tommy being overpowered, maimed and murdered by various vampires, witches and fiends, he found it hard to concentrate on making new friends or mustering up school spirit. 

And then there was the other image. The one that haunted him day and night and even crept into his dreams. Not just an image, but a memory. A long corridor, a sea of lockers. A crushed boy kneeling on the ground, howling in pain. Pleading with him not to leave, not to leave him alone. 

It had hurt him more than he thought possible, to see Tommy like that. Tommy, who was always so strong, so buoyant, so unbreakable. Broken, not by any monster or disaster, but by him. 

Since that day, he hadn’t been back to Pleasantville at all. Sometimes he passed the turn off on the road, but his parents had always come to Springwood to visit him, never the other way around. He couldn’t go back. It would hurt far more than he could bear, and besides, he’d promised. 

There had been one time, though, that he had broken his self-imposed Pleasantville ban. The Pleasantville High football team had come to Springwood for their annual rivalry match and Merton had told himself all week that he would stay away, that he couldn’t risk seeing Tommy. In the end though, he had caved and snuck beneath the bleachers to try and catch a glimpse. He had even doused himself in some cheap deodorant he’d bought at CVS just so the wolf wouldn’t be able to smell him from the field. 

He needn’t have worried. Tommy was nowhere to be seen. Some other quarterback was playing for Pleasantville. He was a squat tank of a boy, not tall and lithe and beautiful like Tommy. 

Whenever Merton caught himself having these thoughts, he threw himself even harder into his studies. He couldn’t afford to look back. Couldn’t afford to think about his former best friend. After all, he was the one who’d dumped Tommy. The guy probably hated him now, and who could blame him? After all those things he’d said? He didn’t deserve Tommy, and he hoped Tommy would find someone who did. 

Well, when he was being particularly virtuous, that’s what he hoped. The rest of the time he entertained forbidden dreams of a triumphant return to Pleasantville, or an accidental encounter in the supermarket car park or of horrifying monsters coming after him and Tommy bursting in at the very last second to save the day... 

He had wondered, for a while, about Tommy’s absence from the match. It wasn’t like him to skip out on a football game. Tommy was big on loyalty and would never normally bail on his team. Then again, the situation wasn’t exactly normal. After everything Merton had done, of course Tommy had skipped the match at Springwood High. It had hurt, though, knowing he wasn’t there because of him. Knowing how much he must hate him. 

But Merton knew he had been right to do what he had done. Given the chance, he would do it all over again. Mind you, he’d do almost anything to avoid reliving that kind of pain, and to avoid inflicting it on Tommy. When he’d arrived in Springwood on that Sunday, he’d spent an entire week in his new room, crying. He’d barely slept or eaten. Twice he’d gotten in the hearse, ready to drive back to Pleasantville to beg Tommy to take him back. Three times he’d leapt up when the doorbell rang, certain it was Tommy come to demand he apologise. But it had never been Tommy and he had never taken it back, because deep down he knew he had done the right thing. He had been given two choices: give Tommy up, or lose him. How could anyone have chosen otherwise? 

He could still remember the moment when he had received the note. He’d been sitting in the cafeteria at the end of lunch, chatting with Tommy. They’d been discussing their plans for the future – colleges, football scholarships, the world beyond Pleasantville. Tommy had left early to talk to his coach before his next class started, so Merton began to gather the debris of their lunch back onto the red plastic trays which lay scattered across the table. He had taken one, Tommy had taken six, so it was a while before he got around to putting his own meal back in order. When he picked up his plate from the tray so he could stack it on top of Tommys’, he caught sight of the small white envelope that had been hidden beneath it. Across the front in antique calligraphy was scrawled one word: “Dingle”. 

His breath hitched and he looked around the cafeteria suspiciously. Was it a love note? Did he have a secret admirer? Who else hid anonymous notes beneath people’s lunches? His mind whirred as he sorted through the possibilities. Which of his fellow classmates could be secretly besotted with him? Was it Audra, the quiet girl who dressed all in black and sometimes sat in the back of the room at his guild meetings? Jessica Stevens, the real life Barbie who had taken over from Stacey as head cheerleader? Could it be Cindy Goldfarb, the lovely if-slightly-intimidating young woman who had just been elected president of the math, science and debate clubs? Or – hope against hope – could it be…? Who else had had a better opportunity to slide it under his plate? And who had made a hasty exit before he’d found the note? It was with excitement and trepidation that Merton opened the envelope. 

He didn’t move for a full five minutes after reading it. Again and again he went over the words in his head, trying to force them to rearrange themselves into sentences that made sense. They had at first, but that was before his brain comprehended, panicked and decided to stop functioning completely. 

‘We have killed someone you love.   
If you do not leave Pleasantville, we will kill the person you love the most.   
If you ever return to Pleasantville, we will kill the person you love the most.   
If you tell anyone about this threat, we will kill the person you love the most.   
If you attempt to contact that person at any time after your departure, we will kill them.’ 

He closed his eyes, drew a deep breath and reread it. One word flashed through his mind again and again. Who? Who? Who was it? Who had been killed? Was it his folks? Becky? Lori? She hadn’t been at school that morning and he hadn’t seen Becky since breakfast… 

He didn’t need to ask who the second person was. The one he loved the most? That was easy. He did wonder how the note-writer knew, though. He’d never told anyone. He’d thought he’d hidden it well. 

And who was the note-writer? They’d said “we”… That sounded like the Syndicate. They were certainly capable of this kind of cruelty and they wanted to isolate Tommy more than anything. No matter how many times he defeated them, rejected them, beat them to a pulp, they always resurfaced. They couldn’t be stopped and if they’d killed somebody already… 

He stood suddenly, knocking a stray tray off the edge of the table. He had to go find Lori, check on his family, make sure everyone was all right. Until then, he couldn’t mention this to Tommy. Who knew when the note-writer would be watching? 

He hopped in the hearse, headed straight for his house. Once he got back to his lair he’d be able to get online, check his parents’ calendars and Becky’s diary, call Lori on the landline and then go methodically through his address book to make sure everyone was still alive. He hoped against hope that this was just a hoax. Maybe he and Tommy would be laughing about it later that night, curled up on the couch with a bad kung fu movie and a Hungry Bucket meal deal. 

He slammed the front door and called out to see whether anyone was home, but the house was silent. He made for the lair, pushing through the doorway and walking straight into… something soft and scaly and cold. He started, then recognised Rasputin’s cold touch on his shoulder and pulled him down towards him, wanting his calm, soothing presence. Only, Rasputin wouldn’t budge. Merton looked up and saw to his horror that his beloved python had been nailed to the doorframe and was dangling down to drape across the shoulders of anyone who walked into the lair. Merton dropped to the floor with a cry, backing away on all fours, unable to tear his gaze away from his poor friend. Rasputin stared with white, unseeing eyes, still swaying slightly from when Merton had pulled him. 

Pinned to the wood next to him was another note, this one envelope-less. It simply said ‘You have one week.’ 

He felt sick. The next ten minutes had been spent in the bathroom, the following twenty trying to work out how to get him down from the doorframe without throwing up again or breaking down in tears. 

What kind of a monster would do this to an innocent creature? Rasputin may have been creepy, but he was harmless. Who would hurt him just to get to Merton? 

Again, his thoughts turned to the Syndicate. Once poor Rasputin had been taken down and given an honourable burial in the back yard (Merton had given a moving and tearful speech about the nobility of serpent kind and the unjust vilification of the albino minority in society), he locked himself in the lair, unplugged his phone and sat down in his wing-backed chair, thinking hard. He ignored his parents’ knocks on the door, Becky’s snarky rant outside in the hall about him hogging the dial up and, most difficult of all, Tommy’s desperate pounding on the door. In the end, he had given in with that one and shouted to Tommy through the door that he wasn’t feeling well and needed to sleep it off, which, he reasoned, was probably true anyway. 

It was morning before Merton realised that he had been up all night thinking, and he still couldn’t see a way out of this mess. He knew whoever had sent the note had been serious, because of what they’d done to Rasputin. The last thing he wanted was to leave, but he couldn’t see any other choice. As he’d realised the day before, the Syndicate was unstoppable. With their complex organisation and untold numbers, they could never truly be beaten. 

He couldn’t tell Tommy what had happened because he’d just wolf out and go after the Syndicate without stopping to come up with a plan or think through the consequences. He was like that when someone threatened Merton. Then Tommy would get himself killed, one way or another, either the first time around or when the Syndicate came back for revenge, because they’d never stop coming. Besides, if he told Tommy about the note, he would be bound to ask who the person he loved most was, and Merton wasn’t ready to deal with that question just yet. Maybe one day. He looked down at the note, now clutched and crumpled in his hand. Maybe never. 

He couldn’t see another way out. He had to leave Pleasantville, leave Tommy, leave the life he’d slowly and painstakingly built for himself. He couldn’t let the person he loved most in all the world get hurt, or worse. He couldn’t watch Tommy die. 

Merton stood up at last, stiff bones and muscles complaining at the sudden movement. He started to get ready for school, preparing to put on a mask of normalcy and beginning to rehearse in his head the words he would say to Tommy. He had known him for a long time now and he knew that moving away alone wouldn’t be enough to stop Tommy from trying to be his friend. He would never have given up that easily. No, Merton knew, and the knowledge cut him like a knife, that whatever else happened, he was going to have to crush Tommy Dawkins and break his heart. 

It hadn’t been until that moment in the hallway, though, hearing Tommy howl and seeing his tears, that he had realised just how badly this would break him, too. 

So starting a new life in Springwood had been a bit of a misfire. He was still too close and it was all still too fresh in his memory for him to be able to put his past in Pleasantville behind him. He was hanging out for college, making desperate plans to leave the country and study overseas. Anything that allowed him to put an ocean and several thousand miles between him and Tommy Dawkins.


	3. Explanations

Then, one fateful day, a little more than six months after he’d broken Tommy Dawkins’ heart, he offered to go and pick up some groceries for his grandparents and his worst nightmare came true. 

Ok, so not his worst one. That was too horrible even to mention. Everything he’d given up so far had been done to prevent that particular scenario from ever becoming a reality and he planned to keep it that way. 

It wasn’t his second worst, or his third worst. It wasn’t even one of those middlingly bad nightmares, like the one where he’s forced to play football against TnT in his pyjamas or the one where Needlemouth is after him and he’s slowly getting closer and closer and soon he’s going to reach out and grab him and… 

It wasn’t anything like that. It was just awkward. Really, really awkward. 

It happened in the supermarket car park, exactly like he’d imagined, just as he was struggling to load his third bag full of cans of soup into the back of the hearse. The thin white plastic of the bag was straining and cutting into his fingers as he fought to lift it high enough to heft its contents over into the trunk. He was already feeling pathetically weak when a familiar voice said, “Here, let me get that for you”, and a strong hand yanked the bag out of his grasp and swung it into the car. 

As soon as he heard the gruff, self-assured voice he knew who was behind him and he knew he wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed. Still, his instinct for self-preservation won out, so he mumbled a “thank you” and tried to edge around to the driver’s seat. He didn’t even bother to get the last few bags from the cart. It was every man – and can – for himself, he decided, opening the door and slipping inside as quickly as possible. He locked the doors and hunched down in the seat, willing himself not to look in the mirror. He knew who was out there and the last thing he wanted to do was meet her eye. 

Nothing happened. Maybe she’d left? Maybe he’d been imagining things and it hadn’t even been her in the first place? He risked a glance in the rear view mirror just in case the coast was clear and he could race home and try to put the whole debacle behind him. 

No such luck. It was her, all right. She was standing directly behind the car, arms crossed, clearly waiting for him to stop being such a loser and get out to talk to her. Maybe if he waited she’d get tired and leave? He hunched down even further and closed his eyes, willing himself away from there. 

Ohh, it was bad. Seeing her again. He couldn’t help but think of Tommy. Suddenly he felt like no time had passed at all and he was still in Pleasantville, still hunting monsters, still hopelessly and pathetically in love with his best friend. Still worshiping and hating Lori Baxter. Worshiping her for her nerve and her loyalty, hating her for being the one Tommy loved and for being too blind to realise that the man was so much more than the wolf could ever be. 

He risked a second glance. She was still there. He sighed. There was no getting out of this. He remembered how stubborn she was. He opened the door and trudged around the hearse to face her. 

“What is it, Lori? I really need to be getting home…” 

She looked surprised. “Huh. Time was it would have taken another half hour of waiting before you’d even consider getting out of the car to talk to me. Looks like someone’s done some growing up.” 

He snorted. Yeah, he’d grown up all right. The hard way. Alone. 

“What do you want?” 

“Oh, come on. A whole year without seeing me and that’s the best I get? ‘What do you want?’ How about ‘Great to see you, Lori!’ ‘I missed you!’ ‘Let me explain why I left town without saying goodbye and never even called to tell you I was safe…’?” 

“Great to see you, Lori. I missed you. Would you mind please moving out from behind the hearse so I can get home to my elderly grandparents who are in desperate need of their groceries and may expire of old age before I ever make it back?” 

She smirked. “Not exactly what I was looking for.” 

He raised an eyebrow, looking suggestively down the carpark walkway. “So…?” 

“I’m not leaving until you tell me why you left. I called your house a bunch of times, but your parents said you told them not to give anyone your new number. How come?” 

Dark brows knit across an alabaster forehead. He was losing patience. “Look, Lori, you can’t bully me the way you used to. If you’re not going to move, I’ll just grab a taxi home or go back and wait in the mens’ bathrooms of the supermarket until you leave.” 

“Wow, ok. You really don’t want to talk about this, do you? Did something happen between you and Tommy?” 

He flinched at the name. Visibly, if Lori’s reaction was any indication. 

“Ok, that’s a yes. What happened?” 

“Look, can’t you just go with whatever story Tommy told you and leave it at that? I really don’t want to discuss this any more.” 

She looked at him like he was crazy, a surprisingly familiar expression. “What are you talking about? Tommy didn’t tell me anything. How could he? He disappeared the same day you did.” 

That stopped Merton stone cold in his tracks. “What did you say?” 

“Tommy’s gone, Merton. Last year I got sick and took a day off school, then when I came back the next day you two had both dropped out and I couldn't get in contact with either of you. So you get why I had to stop when I saw you. I need to know what happened to make my two best friends bail on me in the middle of senior year.” 

The cogs in his brain whirred slowly, more slowly than they’d ever done. Tommy was… gone? How could he be gone? Had something happened to him? Had he been hurt? Was that why he hadn’t been at the game? 

Merton snorted internally. Of course he’d been hurt. Merton had been the one to do the hurting. But surely what he’d done hadn’t been enough to make Tommy leave Pleasantville High, had it? It was his home, his life, his second family. What could be bad enough to make him give up football and Lori? Lori. He loved Lori. Why would he leave? 

Some part of him recognised distantly that she was talking, but he couldn’t register her words. He focused, trying to bring himself back to the world. The world where Tommy was missing. 

“… figured you two had gone off together, then I heard you were at your grandparents’. Did you guys have a fight or something?” 

He looked down, thinking, ‘or something’. 

“Sort of. I told him I was moving to my grandparents’ place and I wouldn’t be able to hang out with you guys any more. He… didn’t take it very well. Last I saw him, though, he was still at the school and he didn’t say anything about leaving.” 

She frowned, perplexed. “Why did you have to move?” 

He demurred. “It was a family thing.” 

“But Tommy would have understood that. He would have tried to make it work. I mean, you’re only in Springwood. It’s not like you moved to Europe. If I’d known you were this close, I’d have been over here all the time. “ 

Suddenly he was grateful and he wished he had told her where he’d been. The past year would have been a lot more bearable with Lori around. Then again, he hadn’t known she wasn’t with Tommy. He hadn’t imagined Tommy could be anywhere other than safe at home, king of his fiefdom at Pleasantville High. 

Where could Tommy be? He had to find a way to interrogate Lori without revealing anything about the note. 

“Thanks, Lori. I figured you were with Tommy and… like I said, we didn’t leave things so well.” 

“Hey, I don’t take sides. I wouldn’t have let him stop me from seeing you any more than I’d let you keep me from hanging out with him.” 

He smiled his first truly warm smile in a year. “Thanks. I guess I really did miss you.” 

Grinning in response, she said, “I have that effect on people.” 

His smile faded and he returned to the task at hand. “So, do you have any idea where he went? What did his parents say?” 

“It was hard to get them at home, but I spoke to Dean. He said Tommy still lives there, but he comes in late and leaves early. I think his exact words were, ‘he comes in during Lucy and leaves before Good Morning America’. 

Merton sighed, one worry relieved. “Well, that’s something. At least he’s still alive, and he’s not homeless or an amnesiac or anything.” 

“Yeah, I think he must be ok. There was a rumour going around a few months back that TnT saw the Pleasantville werewolf in the park. The same night that happened, someone broke into the Hungry Bucket, so I think it’s pretty safe to say that it really was Tommy. I’ve been hanging around the park most nights since just in case he shows up, but I’ve had zero luck so far.” 

Merton frowned, half thrilled and half horrified that the wolf’s only outing had been for fried chicken. That was definitely Tommy. “What were you planning to do if he did show up?” 

She looked sheepish. “This, I guess. Make him stop, make him talk to me. Ask him what happened. Ask him why he –” 

“Why he broke up with you without even saying goodbye?” That wasn’t like Tommy at all. Whatever had made him leave, whether it was Merton or something else, must have been really bad. “That must have been rough, Lori. I’m sorry.” 

Again, the ‘are you crazy?’ expression. He wished she’d find a new way to make him feel stupid. This one was getting old. “Merton, Tommy and I weren’t dating when he left. We’d been over for a long time.” 

Nahuh. That wasn’t right. “No, I would have noticed that. Tommy would have said something.” 

“I’m surprised he didn’t. I mean, he was the one who broke it off. It’s not like he was keeping it quiet to protect his pride. That was all me.” 

He looked at her understandingly. “Wow, well, you did a good job. I never guessed that you guys had… Wow. Ok. So, why are you trying to find him then? If it’s not because of that, then…?” 

“We may have broken up, dorkhead, but that doesn’t mean we’re not friends. I still love him. Not like that anymore, but… yeah. Anyway, now that there are two of us to search, we can do a better job. Split up, cover more ground.” 

He started to back away, ever so slightly. “Two of us?” 

“Yeah. If I take the park, you can hang out by the Hungry Bucket. I figure they’re the most likely places for him to show. Unless you can think of somewhere better? You always were the brains.” 

Merton was shaking his head now, looking for a way out. “Look, Lori, I’ve got a lot of stuff going on here in Springwood. My grandparents need me around, I’ve got all this homework. I don’t think I can help you out right now. How about you take the lead for a while and when things calm down around here, I’ll take a shift or two?” 

She peered at him. “Are you ok? I think you’re shaking and you’ve gone even paler, which I didn’t even know was possible.” 

“Yeah, no. I’m fine. Just – tired. I really need to be getting back now. How about you call me some time? Like I said, I’m really busy, so maybe give it a few weeks.” 

Now she was giving him her patented Baxter glare. “And just how am I supposed to call if I don’t have your number?” 

He blanched. “An excellent point. How about I go home and think about that and then when you call I can tell you what I’ve come up with?” He let out a high-pitched, nervous giggle. Wow, it had been a long time since he’d made that noise. 

“Merton, what’s going on? One minute you’re perfectly fine, then the next you’re rambling and freaking out just because I asked you to help – Oh. I get it. This isn’t a family thing, is it?” 

He whined, backing toward the driver’s side door. For every step he took, she took a slightly longer one. So much for not letting on. 

“Merton, why did you really leave Pleasantville?” 

He fumbled for his keys, then stopped as realization flooded her face. “Oh, right. Did you - ? Did he - ?” 

Now he was genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?” 

She took a step back, kinder now. Giving him space. “Did you finally tell Tommy how you feel?” 

He spluttered and choked, lost for words. “I don’t know what you’re - how is that even – how did you – what are you implying!?!” 

He could see she was making a valiant effort not to laugh and he appreciated it. 

“Oh, come on, Merton. How much time did the three of us spend together? Like I wasn’t going to notice.” 

Suddenly he was inches away from her face, breathing heavily, hands tight and desperate around her upper arms. “Did you tell anyone? Lori, listen, this is very, very important. Who did you tell?” 

She backed away, breaking his grip easily. “Get off me. No, I never told anyone. But it wasn’t that hard to guess. Anyone who watched you guys for a while could have put two and two together.” 

He sighed, defeated, and literally sank to the ground, sliding down the side of the hearse. “Did Tommy know?” 

She sat down beside him, leant back against the car and gave a tentative smile. “I don’t think so. You know Tommy, he’s completely oblivious if he doesn’t know to look for something. I’m surprised he ever managed to notice he was a werewolf.” 

That surprised a chuckle out of him. “I think I noticed before he did.” 

She laughed gently and put a hand on his shoulder. “Just so you know, it doesn’t bother me. You’re still the same Merton, still my friend. And believe me, I get it, the whole falling for Tommy thing. I’ve been there.” 

They shared a wry smile, then her face turned serious. “So, how did he take it?” 

Merton looked surprised, then realised what she meant. “Oh, no. I never told him. Like I said, the only thing we talked about was me leaving. He was upset, but I never imagined he’d disappear.” 

“So, then, wait, why did you leave? I saw you a minute ago when I mentioned going back to Pleasantville. That was no family thing. You were freaking out.” 

He decided honesty was the best policy. Or, at least, partial honesty. 

“I just… I feel really bad about how much leaving hurt Tommy. I mean, he was actually in tears. I’ve never seen him cry before. It was… intense. I did leave for family reasons, but there are all kinds of painful memories there now. It’s just too soon to go back.” Hey, most of that was true. Hopefully enough that she’d believe it. 

“That’s stupid.” Or maybe not. “Tommy’s your friend, Merton. It doesn’t matter how hard it is for you to face him. If he’s in trouble, we have to do something.” 

Merton stood up, surprised to find his legs were strong enough to support him again. “Sorry, Lori, but I just can’t do it. Anyway, Tommy’s fine, if he’s still living at home and eating his favourite food.” 

“He’s sleeping at home and stealing his favourite food. Not quite the same thing.” 

He waved a dismissive hand. “Either way, if there is something wrong, you’re the best person to work out what it is. You can hunt for him way faster than I could and anyway, Tommy hates me now, after what I did. If he saw or smelt me anywhere in Pleasantville he’d probably just skip town and then any chance we’d have of finding him would be gone forever. I’ll stay here, and you can let me know when you find him and tell me he’s safe and well. I’ll give you my number, I promise.” 

She looked down at the ground and for a moment he actually thought she was going to give in. Then the next thing he knew, he was bound and gagged with twisted plastic bags in the boot of the hearse, his face squashed up against some errant cans of soup. He winced as he heard the squeal of tires and felt the shove of a sharp corner, praying she wouldn’t hurt his precious hearse. 

In the front he heard her let out a loud whoop and cry out the open windows, “Pleasantville, here we come!”


	4. Complications

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. 

How could he have let this happen? How could he have been so stupid? 

He should have known the minute he saw Lori that she’d somehow find a way to drag him back to Pleasantville. 

Mind you, he hadn’t gone willingly. He’d kicked and screamed and (he was a little ashamed to admit) bit and scratched at her like a cat. For some reason, the other Springwood Supermart patrons had only glanced over at them, smiling benignly as the tiny girl trussed him up in shopping bags and threw him in the boot. He felt like he could almost hear their thoughts – ‘Oh, how sweet. He’s finally found a friend.’ ‘Isn’t she pretty? I wonder what she sees in him?’ ‘Don’t fight it, honey. Go for it! She’s way out of your league.’ 

He groaned in frustration and kicked out against the side of the trunk, but all that got him was a stubbed toe and an even more uncomfortable position. As the hearse rounded another corner, he sighed and put his mind to what he was going to do when they got there. At the speed Lori was driving, it wouldn’t be long. 

By the time she pulled over and got out of his car, he was still drawing a blank. How could he manage to convince her to take him home before anyone saw him? He couldn’t afford to spend any time in Pleasantville in case the note-writer was still around, ready to make good on his threat. 

She opened the boot and hauled him upright. He shuffled forward and swung his legs over the folding out back door of the trunk. After ripping open the ties around his ankles, but leaving his wrists and knees bound, she mercifully took off his gag. 

He blinked and looked around, licking his chafed lips. They were parked in the street beside the park. Seeing it again was… surreal. He had never thought he’d make it back to Pleasantville again. 

He turned to his friend, deciding that screaming and freaking out probably wasn’t the best way to go. “Lori,” he said, trying hard to keep his voice calm. It still shook a little. “Take me home right now.” 

“Are you nuts? We’re here now, you may as well help me look for Tommy.” 

“You don’t get it. I don’t want to look for Tommy! I just want to go home!” 

She threw a hand over his mouth, shooting daggers from her eyes. “Shut up, Merton! What if Tommy’s out there somewhere, listening? Do you want him to hear you say that?” 

Realisation struck and he smiled. Thinking he’d be sensible now, she let go of his mouth. “You’re right, Lori. Tommy could be listening. Anyone could be listening. So how about this, huh?” He levered himself off the back of the hearse and hopped awkwardly into the street, then in his loudest voice he shouted, 

“MY NAME IS MERTON J. DINGLE AND I AM ONLY HERE BECAUSE I WAS TIED UP AND BROUGHT AGAINST MY WILL!” 

Lori, who had also been leaning against the back of the hearse, leapt off the car with a snarl and made a grab for him, but he hopped out of the way. He may not be strong, but he had always been quick. 

“I DON’T WANT TO LOOK FOR TOMMY DAWKINS!” 

She lunged again, and he skittered out of her way. 

“I NEVER WANT TO SEE HIM AGAIN!” 

This time she caught him and tackled him to the ground, but couldn’t manage to cover his mouth in time to stop him from shouting one final, “EVER!!!”

This time she hit him hard, right across the face. When he looked up, he could see angry tears in her eyes. 

“How dare you, Merton? Why would you do something like that?” 

He stayed silent, still dizzy from the blow. She’d threatened to hit him hundreds of times, but never really done it. Not properly.  
It was just as bad as he’d always imagined. 

“I’ve spent months looking for Tommy, then you’re here for two minutes and you try to ruin it all. You’re so selfish!” 

She shook him, hard. His ears rang, but he smiled inside. This was perfect. In one move he’d managed to let everyone know he was here against his will, tell the Syndicate he had no interest in seeing Tommy again and make Lori want to take him home immediately. Genius. 

She rolled off him and sat down on the asphalt hard. He dragged himself upright, wrists still bound in front, abs screaming at him, unused to the exercise. 

When she spoke again, it was quieter, angrier. “Why did you do that?” 

He raised his eyebrows, matter of fact. “I told you I didn’t want to come. If you try to keep me here, I’ll just keep doing it. One time Tommy really is going to hear me and that’ll ruin everything, so I strongly suggest you take me home.” 

She looked at him scathingly. “Why do you hate him so much? What happened?” 

This genuinely surprised him. “I don’t hate him, Lori. If you had any idea... Anyway, I’m not going to stay here and look for him. Can you help me back into the hearse? And I’d prefer a proper seat this time, if you don’t mind.” 

The girl closed her eyes, leaned back on the pavement and turned her face up to the sky, which was just beginning to darken into evening. Her brows knit as she pulled herself together. “I’m not going to forgive you for this, you know.” 

He sighed. “I know. Now let’s go.” 

She was just helping him to his feet when they were both knocked back to the ground by a massive blast. Somewhere he heard sirens start to blare and saw water shoot into the air from a broken fire hydrant. 

Squinting through the mist and the smoke, he could just make out a hulking shape lumbering awkwardly toward them across the grass. With every stomp the ground quaked and, giving in to old instincts, Merton scrambled to get behind Lori and peered out over her shoulder. 

When she spoke, her voice was hushed and uneven. He’d never seen Lori properly scared before, but he imagined it would look an awful lot like this. 

“Uh… Merton? What is that thing?” 

As it came slowly and inevitably towards them, the creature came into focus. Merton saw hard metal, hundreds of bolts and gleaming red eyes. His encyclopedic mind took over, pushing aside fear for facts. 

“That’d be a robot. Or a cyborg, depending on whether it’s humanoid or entirely technological. Actually, this reminds me of the ill-fated 1999 Warner Bros animated movie, The Iron Giant.” 

“What happened?” 

“Well, the critics loved it and it received several very prestigious awards, but it was a complete financial failure.” 

“In the movie, Merton! What happened in the movie?” 

“Oh! A young boy befriends a giant robot, just like the one you see before us. The adults in the movie struggle to overcome their fear and prejudice and in the end destroy the robot. Only the boy can see that beneath the cold metal shell beats a gentle, loving heart.” 

“So you mean this monster might not be so bad?” 

Merton raised his eyebrows. “It’s certainly a possibility.” He took a deep breath, steeled himself and stepped out from behind Lori. 

“Oh majestic metal creature, we come in peace! We understand that others have feared you and ostracized you, but they just couldn’t see the good that lies within you. If you let us, maybe we can understand your heartache. Maybe we could be your friends?” 

Lori nodded vehemently as Merton took another step forward, more confident now, only to have a white hot bolt of laser energy strike the ground before his feet. Before Lori could even blink, Merton was behind her again, clutching her shoulders and pointedly saying, “Or maybe not.” 

Lori looked up again as the creature ground to a halt. She took advantage of the pause to rip the ties off Merton’s wrists and knees. A low whirring sound filled the air and its legs began to shift and split, until the creature had sunk to its knees and its calves had changed to become two smaller drones. They emitted high-pitched beeps as they zipped forward and away from the core robot. 

“I’ve got left!” Lori jumped up and ran forward to face the drone, meeting it head on with a roundhouse kick to the laser stem. 

“I guess that leaves right for me,” Merton mumbled as he reluctantly moved forward to engage the other bot. 

He felt completely out of his depth. Even the months of practice facing beasts alone hadn’t prepared him for hand-to-hand combat with a robot. He was usually very careful to turn fights into a battle of wits and to bone up on research before hand, coming equipped with each monster’s personal kryptonite. This wasn’t his thing, this was Lori’s. Lori’s and Tommy’s. 

As he ducked beneath a shot from the bot, he darted around to try and reach the control panel behind its head. He wasn’t quick enough, though, and the robot socked him across the middle with a very heavy metal arm. He climbed back to his feet, circling his foe then sneaking a glance over to see how Lori was doing. Her robot was looking the worse for wear as she landed blow after blow on its outer shell. The noise of the attacks seemed to confuse it. 

She saw him looking and somehow found the energy to yell at him between hits and kicks. “What is this, Merton? There hasn’t been a single bad guy in town in months, then suddenly you show up and it’s like evilpalooza! Are you, like, some kind of monster magnet?” 

He didn’t have time to reply, as he was busy being thrown headlong into a park bench. It was an interesting idea, though. Could it have been him, all this time, who drew monsters into Pleasantville? It would explain why they’d moved their assaults to Springwood when he’d left. Why him? What was causing it? He’d always assumed it had been Tommy’s werewolf magnetism that was drawing them in, but obviously now he would need to rethink that. 

He glanced at Lori again and managed to call out to her just in time for her to avoid another thick white beam of laser energy from the motherbot. He’d forgotten about it, assuming it would stay back and let its drones do the work. Clearly they weren’t getting it done fast enough. 

Another blow slammed him back against the park gazebo, and as he flew through the air he saw the other robot pin Lori to the ground out of the corner of his eye. His foe advanced on him, drawing and cocking the gun attached to its forearm. Rather than watch as it was held to his head, Merton closed his eyes. 

After everything, was this how it was going to end? Death by robots? Him and Lori, fighting together, dying together in the middle of Pleasantville? He was glad Tommy was safe somewhere far away. He didn’t want him to see this, or to die there with them. He could die happy knowing Tommy was safe. 

Then again, if Tommy had been there, they probably wouldn’t be dying at all. His wolfy powers would have been more than a match for these pathetic little terminator wannabes. For a moment he amused himself imagining Tommy all wolfed-out, flipping away from a laser bolt, smashing in the plate armour of the drone that was in front of him right now, the drone about to shoot him… 

Somewhere along the line, he realised that he shouldn’t still be able to fantasise about Tommy. He should have been lying on the grass with a laser mark burnt into his head. Tentatively, he sneaked a peek through squinting eyes. The robot was still there, poised for the kill. But it wasn’t moving. He looked over at Lori. She too was poised in a wince, ready for the final blow, her robot enemy frozen in front of her. 

Slowly he waved a hand in front of the robot’s eye slot. Nothing. 

“Hello? Mr Robot Drone?” Nothing. 

By this time Lori too had realised that something had changed. She rolled away from the gun and got to her feet behind the drone. Merton decided that was probably a pretty good idea and tried to do the same. He succeeded, with a few more grass stains and a little less grace. 

They were staring at one another, baffled, when an explosion split the air and knocked them over yet again. Merton’s poor sore back complained that it wasn’t used to this kind of abuse. He told it to be quiet and focused on finding the source of the explosion. As the smoke cleared, he saw that something had ripped off half of the head plate of the hub robot. Well, that would explain why the drones had stopped working. But how…? 

Suddenly he caught sight of a figure standing in the smoke beneath the robot. It looked like a man, except it was taller, with longer fingers and an oddly shaped head. As the image became clearer he could see that it wasn’t the head, but the hair that was odd. Not hair, even. Fur. 

His heart skipped a beat as the man took a step forward. It was just like his daydreams. Swooping in to save him at the last minute. Forgiving him, holding him, kissing him. 

Another step forward and Merton thought he’d faint on the spot. It had been so long. He’d forgotten how it felt. Something in his chest, long silenced, roared. 

Another step forward and he could see it. Something was wrong. The colour of the fur? The posture? The clothing? Yes, definitely the clothing. Why would Tommy be wearing a black cloak? 

Then he realised, all at once, and he shouted to Lori to run, but she couldn’t hear him. She was already moving forward, tears in her eyes, crying “Tommy!” 

“LORI! GET OUT OF THERE!” Then suddenly he was running too, running to get between them, desperate to stop her. 

“Lori, no! It’s not Tommy!” In his mind he could see Rasputin, hanging limp from his ceiling, dead eyes staring emptily. 

‘We have killed someone you love.’ 

Not again. 

Lori was close now, so close, and he was still too far away. He saw the horror in her eyes as she realised her mistake, saw her taken an uncertain step back and stumble. He watched as the creature spun, totally in control, and let off a powerful kick straight to her head. Her entire body slammed backwards, hitting the ground with force and he was still running, not fast enough. Not fast enough. 

The creature smiled and bent over her as she lay passed out on the concrete sidewalk, then Merton was there, madly flinging himself onto the wolf’s back. He beat him across the head and shoulders again and again, slamming ineffectual fists into hard, furry features. He tore at the fur, clinging like a monkey as he fought to keep him from turning back to Lori. 

It was no use. The creature grabbed at one of his flailing arms and held tight, then bent forward and flipped him over his shoulder. Merton hit the ground hard and the impact knocked the wind out of him. He looked up in horror as the creature turned, smiling, to look at Lori. She was still unconscious, but he could see she was breathing. ‘Oh please,’ he thought. ‘let her be ok.’ 

The wolf turned back to him, still smiling coldly. 

“Well, well. What do we have here? I thought we told you to leave town?” 

Merton nodded, unsurprised. Of course it had been the Syndicate. It could never have been anyone else, really. He didn’t recognise this wolf, but then that was the way with the Syndicate. One random face followed another. For every wolf they beat down, another would rise to replace them. 

“I did. She dragged me back, tied me up. I wouldn’t have looked for him, I swear. I was leaving when the robots attacked. I’ll leave now, if you’ll let me. We both will. Please, just, don’t hurt him.” 

He had never heard so much panic or desperation in his voice. Through all the years, after all the monsters they had faced, nothing could compare to the fear of losing Tommy. Not now, after he had given up so much to keep him safe. 

The wolf was shaking his head and Merton’s heart sank. He had failed. 

“A deal’s a deal, Dingle. You’re back in Pleasantville. You know what that means. Then again…” he smirked, clearly enjoying this. “Maybe I’d better take you to the boss. We're under orders to check with him before maiming or killing, in case he wants the pleasure himself. In this case, I'm sure he will. Anyway, he is supposed to make all the decisions.” The wolf winked. “That’s why he gets the big bucks.” 

He exhaled, seeing a ray of hope. The leader of the Syndicate was vicious, sure, a maniacal man who lived to maim and torture in the name of werewolf supremacy, but any chance to talk to him, to explain himself, meant a chance at saving Tommy. Plus, he remembered that the leader’s son, Gil, had a soft spot for Merton. They’d talked, a few times. Maybe he could convince him to intervene with his father and give him the chance to get out of Pleasantville. He’d go further this time, not just to Springwood. He’d leave the country, go into hiding, whatever it took. 

Then a thought occurred to him. “What about Lori? She has nothing to do with this. She doesn’t know anything about the note, or R-Rasputin. What are you going to do with her?” 

The wolf shrugged, obviously getting bored with the details. “She can stay here, for all we care. You’re the one we want.” 

Merton nodded, numb. At least that was one less death on his conscience. He did love Lori, and if going with this wolf meant he wouldn’t hurt her anymore, then that was what he had to do. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. 

“Let’s go.” The wolf grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him along behind him. He looked back just in time to see Lori shift slightly and moan. He was grateful. It looked like she was going to be alright. 

He was the one in trouble. He was in the power of a sociopath werewolf who was strong enough to bash in the head of a giant robot, he was going to meet the psychotic leader of a werewolf cult who had tried on many prior occasions to murder him and if he didn’t play his cards right, they would track down and kill the person he loved most in the world. 

No pressure.


	5. Consequences Pt 1

If Merton had been forced to walk all the way to the Syndicate headquarters, his legs might have actually given out on him. 

It had been a long and painful day for his poor body, which struggled to keep up with his brain and his enthusiasm even when it didn’t have to deal with kidnappings, robot attacks, evil werewolves and seriously heavy cans of soup. He could tell his aching muscles were just about ready to throw in the towel. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to walk at all. Sid had growled at him the first two times he had stumbled, scrambling to keep up as he was dragged along by the wrist, then he’d finally given up and slung him across his shoulders. Now the grumpy werewolf was carrying him as though he were no more than a sack of flour, moving deeper into the woods towards what Merton assumed must be the new location of the Syndicate headquarters. 

He tried to keep up a conversation as they moved, partly to distract himself from his impending doom and partly to see if he could learn anything useful. 

“So… new digs, huh?” 

The werewolf just hefted him higher up on his shoulders and kept moving. 

“You got a name?” Nothing. 

“You Syndicate types all have the most ridiculous names. I mean, what kind of an evil, intimidating name was Gil? Seriously? What about Ambrose? Ralph?” 

The wolf stayed silent, but Merton could feel him shifting uncomfortably beneath him. 

“I bet you don’t have a lame name like that. I bet you have something evil and intimidating.” 

He could almost feel the wolf thinking, weighing up his options. 

“It’s Sid.” 

Merton blinked. “What?” 

“Sid. My name’s Sid.” 

It took every ounce of willpower Merton had not to laugh. It was a close thing, but he managed. If he was going to have any chance of stopping the Syndicate from hurting Tommy, he needed someone on his side. 

“That’s a… nice name.” 

The werewolf growled dangerously and he rushed to correct himself. “Evil! I meant evil! It’s a terrifying name. Not stupid at all!” 

The wolf settled. Merton sighed. “So, the boss makes you take all your innocent victims in to see him before you can kill them?” 

Sid grunted. “Yep. New policy.” 

“That’s gotta be annoying.” 

“You have no idea.” 

A pause. Merton looked thoughtfully out into the woods, watching the trees shift past them in the darkness. 

“And you think he’ll be particularly interested in killing me?” 

Sid smiled at this. “Oh, I know he will. He has a particular… aversion to you. We’re not even allowed to mention your name in his presence.” 

Merton thought about this. He’d assumed that the Syndicate had always blamed Tommy for defeating them. Tommy was the one with the wolfy mojo. All Merton had were his books and his wit and sometimes, when the bad guys were particularly scary, even that abandoned him. How could he be a threat to the Syndicate leader? 

Still, he was the one who always figured out where the organisation was hiding. And he supposed he was the one who had un-brainwashed Tommy and de-wolfed Lori that time. Plus, he supported Tommy’s wolfy quirks, helped him with his fleas and his dentistry and his fried chicken cravings. He kept Tommy away from the Syndicate and fighting on their side. 

Huh. Maybe he was a threat. 

He smiled. 

Cool. 

At last they reached the headquarters. This time around it was an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the woods. He guessed that was meant to be funny. Werehouse. 

Or maybe that was just him. 

Sid came to a halt outside the big double doors and set him down on the ground. To his credit, Merton managed to remain upright. 

He elbowed him, smiling suggestively. “You must be dying to see the leader.” He cackled with laughter while Merton grimaced. Humour had never been the Syndicate’s strong suit. 

The wolf beside him finally caught his breath, then held open the door and gave a creepy grin. “After you.” Merton gulped, then nodded, trying to look braver than he felt. He squared his shoulders and marched through the door. 

As he passed he heard Sid chuckling softly. “This is going to be interesting.” 

He entered at the shorter end of a rectangular warehouse. From the outside he had expected to find it decrepit and derelict, but someone had taken the time to paint the inside and furnish it with comfy looking couches and a long modern conference table in the corner. There was a flat screen to his right and a few football and movie posters scattered around the room. It looked homey. Clean. Surprisingly un-evil. 

The only intimidating feature was a long dais at the far end of the room, where three black hooded figures were sitting. Two were on low stools, turned in to face the centre where the third was sitting on a rather elaborate throne. 

Weapons were mounted conspicuously on the wall behind them, which would have been frightening if there hadn’t been two replica light sabers and a katana mixed in among the axes and swords. 

He barely had time to wonder what on earth was going on when Sid materialized beside him. 

“Master, I have brought you an offering.” 

Merton shuddered at the wording. He was about to interject and explain that he was a person and was not to be objectified, when the central shrouded figure spoke. 

“Do you think I didn’t know, Brother Sid? I could smell him from two miles away.” 

Something inside Merton’s chest froze solid. No. His brain went into shut down, repeating the word again and again. No. Please, no. 

The leader pulled back his hood to reveal a sinister smile and a cold, hard yellow glare. He wore his power like a cape and his expression was utterly merciless. 

“No.” It was more breath than word, involuntary and instinctive. His knees gave out and he was suddenly glad Sid was gripping him so tightly, or he knew he would have fallen. 

He had to be dreaming. Wake up, Merton! This wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real. 

 

The sick smile and cruel expression graced an all-too-familiar face. 

“Tommy?” 

His expression twisted at the sound of horror in the boy’s voice. 

“Hello, Merton.” There was no warmth to the words, no trace of his familiar inflection. Merton gaped at him, feeling cold and sick and… wrong. This was all wrong. 

“Tommy, what have you done?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” He raised his arms, gesturing to the room around him. “I joined the Syndicate. A nice idea, but I didn’t like the way things were being run, so I decided it was time for a… change in management.” The wolves began to chuckle darkly and Merton thought he might actually throw up. 

“What about the last leader? What about Gil?” 

“They had… graver matters to deal with.” 

This drew a full peal of laughter from the wolves, but Tommy silenced it with a simple raise of his hand. What on earth was going on? He was even punning like a super villain. This wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real. 

“Tommy, we’ve got to get out of here. Just, please, come with me. This isn’t you.” 

“But it is me. The new me. The better me. I have power and respect. I can do anything I want, whenever I want.” He straightened up, staring imperiously down at Merton. “Don’t pretend you know me, pathetic human. I could snap your neck before you even saw me stand.” 

Merton gulped, suddenly feeling every nerve in his aforementioned neck. He knew Tommy wasn’t exaggerating his speed or his strength and after everything Merton had done, he really wasn’t sure that Tommy wouldn’t hurt him. Still, he knew he had to try. 

“But I do know you.” His voice was shaky. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You’re Thomas P. Dawkins, captain of the football team and the most popular guy at Pleasantville High. You like singing and fried chicken and Jackie Chan movies. You’ve been in love with two people – Stacey Hanson and Lori Baxter. John Elway’s been your hero since you were nine.” He was almost pleading now. “You’re my best friend, Tommy, and I’m here to take you home.” 

For a long moment after Merton finished talking, Tommy’s face was dark and unreadable. When he finally spoke his voice was carefully controlled. “I thought you said you didn’t want to look for me?” 

Merton blinked, surprised. “Yeah, but I –” 

“I thought you said you never wanted to see me again?” 

He swallowed, hard. Crap. “You heard that, huh? Ok, you’re right. I said that. And to tell the truth, I did want to look for you and I did want to see you – more than I’ve ever wanted to see anyone, actually. But I wouldn’t have looked for you and if I’d seen you, I would have run as far and as fast as I could in the opposite direction. And if you’re here, and this is your life now, then you already know why that is.” 

Tommy frowned. “What are you talking about?” 

“You run the Syndicate now, right? So you have to know about the note.” 

He stood up sharply, advanced on Merton, almost hissed the words. “What note?” 

Confusion settled on him like a cloak, but he saw it in Tommy, too, and it gave him confidence. “You mean you don’t know? How could they not have told you?” He gestured towards the werewolves ranged around the room. “The others, they have standing orders from the last Syndicate leader.” 

Again he hissed, settling back into his throne. “I killed the last Syndicate leader.” 

“Uh, ok. Congratulations. I’m sure that must have been a big career move for you. After you, uh, killed him, did you by any chance check to see if he had any major schemes in progress?” 

Tommy frowned. “Schemes?” 

“Yeah. Because he was kind of in the middle of blackmailing me. I guess he forgot to mention that before you…” 

“Impaled him.” 

“Impaled him?” 

He nodded, attempting to look dangerous and serious. Part of Merton wanted to laugh, because this was still Tommy, the sweetest kid in Pleasantville, trying to be all powerful and evil. Part of him wanted to cry. 

“Well, if I were you I’d ask your henchwolves what they were up to before your big takeover. That might have been a good first move, actually.” 

Tommy glared and for a minute he glimpsed his old friend, as exasperated with him as ever. Then the powerful alpha was back, beckoning Sid forward with a commanding paw. 

“Brother Sid,” he asked, voice heavy with warning. “Is there something you’d like to share with me?” 

Sid glared at Merton as he came back up to stand beside him, as though this was somehow all his fault. 

“Yes, my lord?” 

“Was the previous Syndicate leader blackmailing Merton?” 

Sid quailed. “Yes, my lord.” 

Tommy clenched his jaw tight and through gritted teeth said, “Tell me.” 

“We sent him a note, telling him if he didn’t leave town and never come back we would kill the person he loved the most.” 

It was clear there was more. “And?” 

“And we told him if he ever spoke to you again, we would kill the person he loved the most.” 

The voice was getting more and more dangerous now. “And?” 

Sid winced. He knew this was not going to end well. “And we… killed his snake, just to make sure he’d listen.” 

Shocked, Tommy turned to Merton, and for a minute the alpha was gone. There was just a concerned teenage boy, feeling for his friend. “Rasputin?” 

Merton nodded. It still hurt. 

He turned to see Sid kneeling on the ground. “Forgive this loyal wolf, oh great and powerful leader. I brought the boy here to face your wrath. I did not know you would take offence at his treatment. We were only obeying orders. When we sent the threat, we didn’t know that soon you would be our master. We thought only to frighten the boy and to drive him away, so we could have you to ourselves.” Sid dared to look up at Tommy, flinched and turned his gaze back to the ground. 

Merton looked back at Tommy too and he recognised his expression instantly. He had seen his friend struggling to suppress powerful emotions so many times before. This time, he could see, it was fury that Tommy was trying to hold back. 

There was a pause in the conversation as everyone waited to see what their leader would do. Merton couldn’t resist the opportunity to distract Tommy and satisfy his own curiosity. “Can I just ask one question?” 

Everyone in the room turned to glare at him. “Please? It’s really been bugging me.” Tommy sighed, rolled his eyes and gestured for him to continue. He turned to Sid. 

“Why did you have to blackmail me? If you wanted Tommy alone, why didn’t you just kill me?” From the corner of his eye, Merton thought he saw Tommy flinch, but he could have imagined it. Yeah, he had probably imagined it. 

Sid, still prostrate on the floor, turned his head slightly so he could see Merton. “We knew that if we killed you, Tommy Dawkins would come after us. He’d never have agreed to join the Syndicate if he knew we had murdered his friend. But if you left…”

Tommy stood up, the fury shimmering in the air around him like electricity. It managed to make him look even more like a wolf. 

“So that’s when you went to work on me. You knew I would be alone and vulnerable and you took advantage.” 

Sid somehow managed to sink even closer to the floor. Merton wondered whether he’d begin to dig into the dirt next, just so he could get lower down in front of Tommy. 

“As I have said, my lord,” and the words dripped from his mouth like honey, sickly sweet and appeasing “I was merely following orders.” 

Merton could see from the lines of Tommy’s body that he had made a decision. 

“OUT. EVERYONE. OUT NOW.” The fearsome black-robed werewolves scattered like frightened children. “I’ll deal with you later.” This last was directed at Sid, who had been the first to flee the room. From the way he hunched as he ran, Merton knew he’d heard the threat. 

Merton backed away, not sure whether he was included in the ‘everyone’. Tommy turned on him. “Not you. You stay. I won’t let you pull that disappearing act again. You’re a coward, Merton, and it’s time you faced the consequences.”

He spat the words, and Merton was glad the room had emptied. He didn’t want anyone there to see him cry.


	6. Consequences Pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, my fellow fans of wolfy angst.  
> It's my first ever BWOC story, after fifteen years of watching and reading.  
> I'm still not sure I can do any kind of justice to this epic show and I don't know if I should write any more in this fandom.  
> If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let me know.  
> In the meantime, I'll mull it over and you can enjoy "Consequences Pt 2", which sounds like it should be the title of a Buffy episode.

“I’m not a coward.” 

Tommy laughed. It was a low, cold laugh. “You’ve always been a coward. Afraid of school, afraid of monsters, afraid of being alone. You just did what you always do when things get hard. You ran away.” 

Merton flinched as if he’d been struck. “I had no choice. They were going to kill people.” 

“What, Gil and his Dad? And how many times have we defeated them before, Merton? Why did you think this time would be any different?” 

Merton whimpered, eyes filling. “They killed Rasputin.” 

The yellow eyes softened a little. 

“I know. I’m sorry.” 

“They – they nailed him to the door of the lair.” Tommy shuddered, then straightened. 

“And they will be punished for that.” His voice was low and dangerous and Merton knew he was telling the absolute truth. He pressed on. 

“But he’ll still be gone. I couldn’t let them do that to- to anyone else.” 

Reminded of why he was angry, Tommy glared at the small, pale boy before him. 

“So instead of warning me that bad guys were after me, that they were trying to strip my defences and manipulate me, you decided that the best plan was to run away?” 

Put like that, it sounded so pathetic. Still, he hadn’t had a choice. Angry that Tommy couldn’t see that, he bit back. 

“I knew they wanted me out of the way so they could recruit you, but I didn’t think you’d ever actually join them. I thought you were too much of a hero to sink to their level.” 

Tommy laughed bitterly. “I guess you were wrong.” 

He groaned, infuriated. “Aren’t you listening? They would have killed people and it would have been my fault! How was I supposed to live with that? How was I supposed to live without –” 

He stopped and swore silently, praying he hadn’t said too much. Tommy didn’t seem to have noticed the near miss, though, so he carried on. 

“Look, if I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same. Only I’d probably say something to you first about how it’s kind of a bad idea to join the werewolf mafia and start killing off its members!” 

“Go ahead and preach! You make it sound so easy, Merton, but you have no idea what it was like, losing you. I had no one – no one!” 

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Don’t be stupid. You had Lori and your family and pretty much every student at Pleasantville High hanging off your every word. You had everything. I was the one who had to give up my home and my school and my family and my only friends. And what do you do? Throw it all away by becoming a freaking supervillain!” 

He paused, breathing heavy. Tommy looked oddly pleased. “Dude, am I really a supervillain?” 

Merton rolled his eyes. “Of course you are, Tommy, look at you! You’ve got the black robes, the henchmen, the glowy eyes... You’re practically Doctor Doom.” 

He grinned. “Thanks, man.” 

“You’re welcome.” There was silence for a moment while they both tried to remember what they had been talking about. 

“Right! Sacrifices! Look, you’ve been surrounded by people your whole life. You have no idea what it’s like to be alone, Tommy. Not like I do.” 

“Oh, really? And all those people you say I had – how were they supposed to help me? Lori and I had just broken up. I’d said some things, revealed some stuff… Anyway, I couldn’t go to her for help. Not then. And my family? All those guys at school? They’d freak if they found out I was the Pleasantville werewolf. You’ve seen them with the mobs and the pitchforks. You were the only one who knew and thought it was ok. You were the only one who accepted me and looked out for me and you’d just – you’d just –” 

He stopped, shaking, and Merton was certain that they were remembering the same moment. Tommy on the floor, Merton turning and walking away. He looked down and wasn’t surprised to see that he was shaking himself. 

“I’m sorry, Tommy.” They were the wrong words to say, he knew as soon as he’d spoken. The exact copy of the words he’d said that day in the hall. When he looked up at Tommy he saw tears in his eyes. No more big bad super wolf. Just a hurt, frightened teenage boy. 

“I had to say those things. I had to stop you from coming after me.” 

He watched as Tommy pulled himself together. “Well, it worked. After that, I… Well, when the Syndicate found me I was pretty low. I couldn’t face going back to school. I didn’t know how I’d manage without you to calm me down, especially when everything there reminded me of you. I was hanging out in the woods most days, sneaking back into my room at night when my folks were asleep. I was the wolf 24/7. It just hurt too much to be anything else. Sid and the others, they helped me to see that that was ok. They taught me how to protect myself from the pain and be like this. Powerful. Safe. Then you came back.” He frowned. “Why did you come back? You said something about being tied up?” 

“It was Lori, actually. She saw me at the store and asked me to come back to Pleasantville with her to search for you. Apparently she’s been looking for you since you dropped out of school. Anyway, when I refused she sort of...” he winced, ashamed, then forced himself to say it. “She tied me up with plastic shopping bags and drove me to the park.” 

Tommy snorted, then tried very hard to pretend he hadn’t. 

“I shouted all that stuff about not wanting to see you so they wouldn’t think I’d broken the agreement on purpose, then I was trying to leave when those robots attacked us.” When he saw the other boy’s eyebrows shoot up, he asked, “You didn’t know about the robots?” 

He shook his head, impressed. “Robots? No. It’s been pretty quiet around here, actually. I guess the monsters just didn’t bother showing up without you around to challenge them.” 

Merton sniffed. “Yeah right. So, Sid intervened and stopped the robots just as they were about to blow our heads off, then he knocked out Lori and brought me to you. I think he was still acting on orders from the last leader about what to do if I didn’t obey the note. He also said something about you having wrath and wanting to kill me yourself…” 

Tommy was very quiet, digesting this information. When he finally spoke, it wasn’t what Merton was expecting to hear. 

“So, what you’re saying is, you didn’t come back because you wanted to.” 

He frowned and shook his head slowly, wondering what Tommy was getting at. 

“Then I guess you should just go.” Suddenly his face was cold and his voice was hard again. Syndicate leader kind of hard. 

Merton did a literal double take, not even sort of following his logic. 

“What do you mean? If you’re in charge of the Syndicate, then they’re not blackmailing me anymore. That means I can stay in Pleasantville!” His eyes lit up. He was thinking of his parents, of Pleasantville High and lunches with Lori, of dragging Tommy back into school. Sure, he’d miss his grandparents, but maybe he could still live in Springwood. Like Tommy had said all those months ago, it really wasn’t that far. 

He looked up from his daydreams and saw that Tommy’s face hadn’t changed. “Why would I go?” 

Tommy drew himself up. It seemed to be what he felt evil leaders ought to do when their authority was questioned. Merton could see it would very quickly become an irritating habit. 

“I am in charge of the Syndicate. That is exactly why you have to go.” 

Merton frowned, confused. “I don’t get it.” 

“The Syndicate is still blackmailing you. If you don’t get out of Pleasantville tonight – and stay out – we’ll come after you and your family. The orders of the previous leader stand.” 

He stood still for a moment, trying to process this. No. There was no way this made sense. Unless… 

“Look, Tommy, if you’re still angry about what I said to you, I’m sorry. Like I said, I didn’t mean it. I only said it because they were blackmailing me.” 

“Yeah, well, it didn’t take much, did it? You didn’t even ask anyone for help. You were so eager to leave? Then leave again. It was easier without you here, anyway.” 

“I wasn’t eager! They were going to kill you!” 

“Like they could have! And like you’d care if they did!” 

Merton reeled, hurt. 'Like he'd care'? Months of pent up fear and anger boiled up inside of him and suddenly he had had enough. “You know what? Fuck you. Fuck you, Tommy and your stupid little werewolf club. You think this is a game? This is my fucking life. I gave up everything – everything – to save you from them. When they said they were going to kill you, I was scared. So scared, I gave up my whole world to keep you safe. And now I find out that this whole time you were with them, that you could have stopped this? And now, even when you know what I’ve had to do and why I had to do it, you’re throwing me away like some old toy you’ve grown out of. Maybe I should go, if it was all worth nothing to you. If I was worth nothing. Seriously, fuck you.” 

Merton stopped, out of breath. He had never said anything like that before. He had never yelled at Tommy. He stared at his friend apprehensively, not sure how he’d react. No, not his friend. He had to remember. The Syndicate leader. Not Tommy. 

But the Syndicate leader seemed to have forgotten he was there. He was frowning, his brow furrowed as though he was trying to remember something. 

After a minute Merton rolled his eyes, well out of patience and out of fear. “Well?” 

When he spoke, he sounded more like Tommy again. Soft, eager, a little unsure. “Wait. I think I missed something there. Did you…?” 

He stopped, thinking hard. Merton’s stomach dropped and he panicked, realising his mistake. Okay, so maybe he wasn't out of fear just yet. His heart started to race and he knew he had to find a way out. 

“You want me gone? Fine. I’m going. Have a nice life.” 

He turned, ready to dash to the door, but suddenly Tommy was in front of him, paw firmly on his chest to stop him. He stared into his eyes as though trying to read them. Stubborn as ever, Merton closed them tight. Tommy wouldn’t be seeing anything he didn’t want him to see. 

“Merton?” With his eyes closed, hearing that voice, he could almost pretend that none of this was real. It was just him and Tommy, safe and together. 

“Yes?” It was shaky, but the register was normal and he could still form words. It was more than he had expected. 

“Did you just say that the Syndicate threatened to kill me?” 

He shut his eyes tighter, shut all of it out. 

“Merton?” 

“Yes?” 

“Merton.” 

“No.” 

He sighed. “No, you didn’t say that, or no, you’re not answering?” 

It was Merton’s turn to think hard. “Both.” 

“Because I’m pretty sure you said that.” 

He opened his eyes, looked at the door. “I have to go.” He took a step forward, or tried to. There was two hundred pounds of quarterback werewolf in his way. 

“But Sid said they threatened to kill the person you love most?” 

He looked at the couch, the walls, back to the door. So close and yet completely out of reach. He looked at the table. Looked anywhere but at Tommy. “Did he?” 

“He definitely did.” 

Once again, Merton reached inside and gathered up every scrap of courage he had left. The robots hadn’t given him much to spare, but he mustered up enough to look Tommy in the eyes. 

He’d really, really missed those eyes. 

“Ok, fine.” He sighed. “You’re my best friend, Tommy. You’re my only friend. I do love you – like a brother. I guess the Syndicate saw that and realised that I didn’t have anyone else in my life. They knew they could get to me through you, then get to you once I was gone.” 

Was he seeing things, or did Tommy look kind of disappointed? The expression faded quickly, though, replaced by apprehension. 

“So you didn’t go because you wanted to get away from me? It wasn’t because of the wolf? Or because of… me?” 

“Why would you think that? I love you, buddy, and you’re worth every second of wolf.” He paused, wondering if he was saying too much, then decided that now wasn’t the time to be squeamish. He could always make disclaimers later, laugh it off. “Look, the last thing I wanted was to leave you. I think they recognised that. They knew that I’d decide that only thing worse than giving you up was losing you forever.” 

“So… you really didn’t mean those things you said?” Tommy’s voice was so small. Merton had never heard him sound like that. He placed his hand on his arm softly. Soothing. 

“No. Never. I’m so sorry, Tommy, but I was scared. I couldn’t let them hurt you.” 

The familiar yellow eyes, warm and golden, trembled with unshed tears. 

“Nothing they could ever do to me would hurt as much as you leaving.” 

The soothing hand clutched at his arm, urgent, pressing him to understand. “Nothing they could ever do to me would hurt as much as you dying.” 

They shared a look, then. Pain, frustration, understanding, hurt, friendship. So much that could never be spoken. So much that didn’t have to be. 

It was Merton who broke the silence. He chuckled nervously. “So… Is the blackmail revoked? Can I stay in Pleasantville? Because honestly, I don’t think I could handle leaving again. I’d have to go really far away this time to make sure I didn’t try and come back. I’d have to, like, go to Germany or something.” 

Tommy growled low in his chest and pulled him forward into a hug. “Don’t you dare.” He settled into Tommy’s arms, surprised at how easy it felt after so long. “You’re not going anywhere.” 

He felt the low rumble of Tommy chuckling. "Besides, you can't go to Germany. I'm pretty sure that's where I made Gil and the leader go." 

Then Merton was laughing as well, a little too long and hysterically. It was relief and exhaustion and the sheer absurdity of it all. When he finally caught his breath, he realised Tommy was still holding him.

Just for a minute, all laughed out in Tommy’s arms, Merton let go of all the stress and fear and tension that he’d been holding on to for the past six months. Notes and snakes and hiding and lying and Lori and robots and the Syndicate… He let it all flow out of him, feeling light and free. Then suddenly he wasn’t holding on to Tommy any more. His legs had given out again and Tommy was holding on to him. 

Stupid, traitor legs. 

Tommy picked him up and walked over to the couch, then gently settled them both down among the big fluffy pillows. Merton would have laughed when he saw that several of them were heart shaped, but it was just too much effort. Right now even staying conscious was too much effort. He leant back against the couch and against his friend, not even caring what the other wolves might think if they came in now. He let his mind wander, considering the odds of a wolfy interruption, when he suddenly realised Tommy was speaking. 

“You were wrong, you know.” 

“What?” He was exhausted, didn’t want to think or move. “Wrong about what?” 

“Before, when you said you knew me. You said I’d loved two people.” 

“Yeah, so?” 

“I only ever loved one.” 

Merton sighed. Of course. He’d forgotten. “Lori. We have to go find her. She might still be in the park and I think she probably has a concussion.” 

But Tommy was shaking his head, shushing Merton, pushing him back down. ‘Why?’, he wondered fuzzily. It felt so good here, he really didn’t want to move, but he knew they had to. Tommy wanted Lori. 

“I didn’t mean Lori.” 

Merton frowned, trying to think. “Stacey? Seriously? I mean, she was pretty and all, but –” 

“Merton?” 

He looked up into warm, golden eyes. “Yeah?” 

“Shut up.” 

Merton shut up, partly because Tommy had asked him to, but mostly because Tommy was kissing him. 

And ohhh, Tommy was kissing him. 

Tommy was kissing *him*. 

It was so much better than anything he could have imagined. Better than Muffy, better than Violet. Way, way better than Lori. 

For a moment he thought about asking Tommy what on earth he thought he was doing. And why? And would he mind please doing it forever? But that would have meant not kissing him for a few extra seconds, so he let it slide. There would be plenty of time for questions later. Right now there was Tommy and warmth and lips and Tommy. 

His Tommy. 

Merton smiled through the kiss and pulled him closer.


End file.
